Corporation with distinction,
for 19 years until his retirement in
1993.

Roy
stamped his mark on a large number of
the UDC's projects
implemented during his tenure, with his
natural flare for landscaping

and making
buildings/projects come alive with beauty.

He
was responsible for restoration and conservation
done in Fern Gully

in 1983, to arrest
erosion, replant and introduce new species
of ferns.

An obituary, Daily Gleaner, October 24,
1999

Daily
Gleaner, January 18,1981

FERN
GULLY TO BE A NATIONAL PARK

Fern
Gully, in Ocho Rios, North-East St. Ann,
is to be made a national park by
the Government, at a cost

of $1.9
million.

Included
in the project is a by-pass road from
Breadnut Hill. This will provide for the
blocking off of

vehicular traffic through
Fern Gully at a certain point. But the
detour would be arranged in such a
close

proximity to the scenic spot that
visitors using vehicles
would encounter no problem walking to the
park from

their transport.

The
project was one of several announced by
M.P. for North Eastern St. Ann, Mr.
Marsh at a special

meeting called in
Ocho Rios, Silver, Seas Hotel of a wide
cross-section of community leaders on Thursday
January 15.

Attending
were some 80 representatives of civic,
tourism, Government and commercial interest.

Purpose
of the meeting was to discuss "the
total development of St. Ann," with
particular emphasis on the

northeast resort
coastline and the total involvement of each
community and private sector with the drive,
after the Government has provided, the
necessary infrastructure, such as roads, water,
housing (for low

income earners), educational,
health and recreational facilities.

Special
speakers at the meeting were the director
of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) Mrs.

Gloria Knight; the chairman of the
Tourist Board, Mr. John Issa; and the
chairman-designate for St. Ann

Development
Committee, Mr
Arthur Ziadie.

Daily
Gleaner, January 28,1981

Fern
Gully c'ttee Minister meet

An
eight-man technical committee which has
volunteered to assist in the proposed
development of Fern Gully as a National
(recreation) Park, met with the Minister of State

stalls in Fern Gully which is
a Protected Place and one of the
world's great natural gardens. I provided a
copy of my letter to both the
Superintendent of Public Parks and Gardens
and the Commissioner
of Police.

Some
vendors in Fern Gully have lit fires
which will hasten the casualty of the
fern population.

I
am, etc.,

AIMEE
WEBSTER DeLISSER

Kingston,

The Director of Tourism herself seemed unimpressed with the UDC's efforts:

Daily
Gleaner, January 1, 1986

IKEBANA
EHIBITION OPENING:

. . . .
The exhibition was opened by Director of
Tourism Miss Carrole Guntly who . . . . asked the

horticulurists to help the younger
generation to preserve its floral heritage
including natural attractions such as Fern
Gully in Ocho Rios and Bamboo Avenue in
St. Elizabeth. She said that these two
world-

reknowned attractions are today "a
travesty of what they used to be",
and that they were, "our unique

heritage which
we should keep in sacred trust for our children and future generations".

and in spite of editorial approval in the press:

Daily Gleaner, March 4, 1986

Editorial: CLEANER COUNTRY

There have also been improvements in the world-renowned beauty spot, Fern Gully, near Ocho Rios where retaining walls are being put in, lay-bys constructed and flowers planted.

other voices continued to express dismay:

Daily
Gleaner, March 4, 1986

Fern
Gully

THE
EDITOR Sir - It was with great sorrow
that I

saw the 'improvements' to Fern
Gully as I was

passing through Ocho
Rios today.

I
seriously wonder how much thought has been
put

into the planning of this beauty
spot. Trees are

being cut down on
either side of the road to admit

more light, and where the trees are cut flower beds

are being planted. Areas of
the banking are being

cleared of the
dead leaves so that the plants may
establish themselves in these man-made beds.

I
love flowers and would welcome this kind
of effort

m the right place, but this is not only misguided,

it's murder.

What
could be more beautiful than the dapples
of

sunlight filtering through the trees on
the road.

There are various forms of
beauty, some so

delicate that one must
look twice to appreciate what is there.
The soft light and natural look of this
blessed part of our land is being
replaced by a more

common form of
beauty easily reproduced in any

park or
round-about.

The
increase of sunlight will mean the death of

many of the ferns now growing in
these areas as

their habitat demands a
high degree of shade with

its accompanying
humidity.

Too
bad Jamaica; another natural beauty spot is

being destroyed for the almighty American
dollar.

We might
give some thought to the idea that our
tourists might like to see the natural
Jamaica and

not a second rate version
of Central Park.

I am, etc.,

MARTIN
E. LINLEY,

c/o
Worthy Park (Farms) Ltd.,

Ewarton
P.O.,

February
25,1986

Daily
Gleaner, March 27, 1986

Beauty
Spots

THE
EDITOR, Sir:- Congratulations to the MPM and
the UDC for the fine ornamental planting
at the

Airport, downtown Kingston, Tom
Redcam and

other roads such as that
leading to Palisadoes. I am

all in
favour of brightening up Kingston and other
towns with colourful planting.

However,
Jamaica has been blessed with a great
variety of natural beauty; mountains and
valleys,

beaches
and mangrove forests, rivers, wet-lands

and
dry areas such as Hellshire with its
magnificent

clumps of cactus.

As
roads were cut through some of these areas,

some of the natural beauty spots
were noted and

kept for public enjoyment,
Fern Gully was one. It

seems to me
a great pity to start planting flowers
and shrubs, building walls, diluting the
impact of the

gully with its rocks and ferns. Diesel fumes may

have killed many
ferns, but many still survive and

these
could be helped and augmented.

Personally
I think the same applies to other
country

places. Dunn's River Falls has been
converted

long ago into a man-made
entertainment centre,

very nice too, but
surely, some of Jamaica's natural

splendour
could be kept. The crotons and oleanders
planted at Hellshire may perhaps serve the
purpose of making the place more home-like,
but

there should still be a place for
the spectacular

plants
that used to dominate the land.

Bamboo
Walk must have been planted many years
ago. It is a unique and wonderful
place, but many
of

the bamboos are dying and no new
ones planted.

Could the MPM use its
skill to save the Walk - with

bamboos,
please?

I
am, etc.,

MARGARET
HODGES

Box
597

Kingston
10

March
16,1986

However, the Prime Minister and the authorities at the Urban Development Corporation seemed satisfied with the Fern Gully efforts.

Daily Gleaner, February 18,
1986Clean-up programmeThe programme of clean-up is now proceeding to the next stage of beautification of roads and parks, painting of murals on walls and building of arcades for vendors stalls. This programme will involve Kingston and other major towns as well as the main highways to improve popular vending locations and points of beauty, such as Fern Gully on which work has already begun. [Seaga broadcast]

Daily Gleaner, March 27,
1986

The
Prime Minister [Edward Seaga] commended the
UDC's beautification programme and said he
was

impressed with the progress being
made. The replanting of Fern Gully
in an attempt to restore it to its
former beauty was well underway.

The
landscaping now being earned out by the
UDC to beautify Kingston involves planting
of flowers
on the

centre verges and sidewalk areas
of main arterial roads such as Tom
Redcam Avenue, Marescaux
Road,

East Race Course . . . .

The
programme also involves landscaping the Spanish
Town Highway and selected areas of the route

leading to Ocho Rios, including Fern Gully.

Daily Gleaner,
April 12, 1986

For
a more beautiful Fern Gully

THE
EDITOR, Sir - Various interested persons have
written to you expressing concern at the
work being

done in Fern Gully by the
Urban Development Corporation.

The
Corporation is engaged in the restoration of
plants and soil stabilisation in Fern Gully involving inter

alia the construction of
retaining walls to halt soil erosion,
spreading of top soil, planting of ferns
and other

varieties of plants, the control
of insects and disease, fertilising, pruning
and cleaning.

Only
those trees which are potentially dangerous
to people and hazardous to traffic are
being removed and

the only leaves removed
are those that had accumulated on the
ferns and were smothering them.

Everything
is being done to encourage the growth
of the existing ferns and it is
intended to introduce

thousands of ferns of
different varieties, the moreso since some
of the existing varieties
are particularly

vulnerable to the exhaust
emission of motor vehicles.

Stone-walling
is the most compatible method of stabilising
the soil and preventing erosion and in
a

comparatively
short time the walls become covered with
moss and lichen which m themselves make
for quick

fern growth.

We
do understand the concern which has
been expressed and trust that the end
result will be a better and

visual and practical dimensions to
its attractiveness. This would allow, for
example, the staging of picnics by

day
and festive promenades by night, extending
enormously the opportunities for visitor/community
contacts

through recreation, fun, sightseeing and
commerce.

The continuing problem then, as now, seems to have been that no decision had been made as to whether Fern Gully was primarily an access road for Ocho Rios, which visitors would catch glimpses of while driving through, or whether, on the other hand, it was an attraction in its own right, which should be set up so that visitors could spend time moving up and down, enjoying the unique environment.